Dan Coats, Indiana's former senator, won the Republican nomination for his old job Tuesday, one of several former officeholders trying to work their way back into public life in a year when voters appear inclined to throw out incumbents.

At Fourth of July parades and barbecues around the Tar Heel state, Jesse Helms' supporters recalled this father of the conservative movement as the man who stood up for traditional values and the defeat of communism -- but still had time to help his constituents.